Portland, Oregon's earliest AM radio stations
appeared in the early twenties. One of those early stations was Oregonian
Publishing's KGW. Others included KDYQ, KFAB, KGG, KGN, KQY and KYG. After the
first two decades of commercial radio involving shared and swapped frequencies,
the AM dial entered a more stable era beginning in the early forties. Some of
the key stations at that time included KGW (620), KOIN (970), KWJJ (1080), KEX
(1190), KXL (1450) and KALE (1330).

By the late seventies, KGW was among
the last successful AM top 40 stations in America, as music fans moved to FM. In
the late fifties KEX played hit music. Their long running morning show was
Barney Keep, who did the show from 1944 to 1979. Bob Swanson, who did a midday
talk show, was another long-running jock on the station from 1966 to 1996. In
the fifties, Portland's top station was KISN (910). By the sixties KGW had
become a leading station, playing top 40 hits, known as "Super 62 KGW." Another
top 40 station in the sixties was KYMN (1520).

While in many major
markets freeform radio
got its start on the emerging FM dial in the late sixties, Portland's first
progressive rock station happened on AM. It was KVAN (1480), first appearing in
the summer of 1967. The independent station was owned by Cathern Murphy, who was
eventually forced by the FCC to sell the station in 1974 due to not meeting
commission requirements. It sold to Howard Slobodin, who held the station for
five years and was able to get the station on the air at night beginning in
1975. By the end of the decade it had become top 40 station KARO under new
ownership. Other rock stations to follow on FM were KGON, KUFO, KZRC and KINK.

In the late seventies disco became a national trend which inspired the
former KOIN to flip to all disco as KYTE-AM. But not only did the disco trend
only last a few years, music fans were moving to FM by that point. As the
eighties unfolded, top 40 station KKRZ (100.3) took the market crown. The only
high-rated AM station playing music by that point was KEX, which had moved to
adult contemporary. Both KKRZ and KEX were owned by Great American Broadcasting.
The other big station on the AM band was news/talk KXL (750), owned by
Kaye-Smith.

One of the most resilient stations over the years has been
adult alternative station KINK (101.9). In the eighties it was owned by King
Broadcasting, experimenting more with new age. In the nineties it was owned by
American Radio Systems and eventually CBS Radio, as a successful adult
alternative. American Radio Systems, along with Jacor were the first big radio
owners in the market as a result of the Telecom Act of 1996, which loosened
ownership limits, allowing big companies to buy several stations in a market.

Throughout the nineties KKRZ remained not only the leading top 40
station in town, but also the overall number one station in the market. Other
high-rated stations in the nineties included country station KUPL (98.5),
country competitor KWJJ (99.5), adult contemporary station KKCW (103.3), oldies
station KKSN (97.1), news/talker KXL (750 AM), full service music/talk station
KEX (1190 AM), active rocker KUFO (101.1) and classic rocker KGON (92.3).
Alternative station KNRK (94.7) has not have strong enough signal coverage to
gain high ratings, but has been influential in introducing new music to Portland
since the mid-nineties. It is the flagship station of the local gone national
band Everclear.